Journal Impact
Tools to Evaluate Publishers
- Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory This link opens in a new windowProvides bibliographic information on serials published throughout the world. Covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science provides indexing, full text linking, and citation tracking for articles from vetted, high quality journals in all disciplines (arts and humanities, social sciences, business and sciences), as well as author and journal metrics. Cited Reference Search includes books, artwork, and other cited works. Analyze results identifies frequent authors, funders, universities, and journals for a search or topic. Subscription excludes SMHS and Law Library Patrons.
- WorldCat (FirstSearch) This link opens in a new windowOCLC catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide
Journal impact factor (IF/JIF) measures...
...the importance, or rank, of a journal by measuring the number of times its published articles are cited.
TOOLS:
InCitesTM Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) [see box below]
- Google Scholar MetricsTop Publications list including Google Scholar's h-5 index and h-5 median metrics for journals. Click on the linked metrics for a description of each metric.
- Eigenfactor.org [Public Access]Gives Eigenfactor Score & Article Influence Score for journals, as well as more information about the Eigenfactor ranking & mapping of journals and scholarly information. The Eigenfactor score adjusts for differences across disciplines and is also provided in JCR.
Journal Citation Reports® (JCR)
InCitesTM Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) database (Clarivate Analytics) illustrates journal impact factor (IF/JIF). It is considered the oldest, and most traditional measure of journal quality to this day, with a larger focus on STEM, and Western European and North American content. Purchased in 2016 by Clarivate Analytics, a company that claims to operate completely independently of mainstream publishers. More info in below box.
The training video below provides a helpful, concise overview on how to use JCR to find journal impact factors, Q1 journals, and other journal-related metrics:
- Journal Citation Reports (JCR) This link opens in a new windowJournal Citation Reports® contains data about more than 8,000 journals in science and technology and more than 2,600 journals in the social sciences. Identifies number of articles published in the journal, number of citations to that journal from articles published, and Impact Factor calculated from the selected years data.
- Journal Citation Reports Quick Reference CardsQuick and easy 4 page PDF document on all you need to know on how to use JCR including definitions of the various metrics and database screenshots.
- JCR Guide by Clarivate AnalyticsTraining videos and other resources from Clarivate Analytics.